Priest: Receive, my Son, the image of the crucifix,image of Thy Master and Redeemer,who suffered for thee and offered Himself for thee.Place it as a standard upon thy heart,as a seal upon thy arm.Novice: I will die O Lord for the love of Thy lovewho has deigned to die for the love of my love.

Because he broke the commandment of his Lord,and was led by intemperance to taste a foodwhich was to be one of bitterness to him,Adam was banished from the paradise of delight,and condemned to till the earth

whence he himself was taken,and to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow.Let us, therefore, covet temperance,lest we, like him, we may have to weep out of paradise;let us be temperate and enter heaven.

God, my Creator, took dust from the earth,quickened me with a living soul,graciously made me the king of all visible things on earth,and gave me fellowship with the angels;but crafty Satan, making the serpent his instrument, allured me with food, banished me far from the glory of God,and made me a slave to death in the bowels of the earth:but Thou, O God, art my Lord, and full of mercy:Recall me from exile.

Being deceived by the craft of the enemy, I, miserable man,violated Thy commandment, O Lord;and being stripped of the garmentwhich Thy divine hand had woven for me,I am now clad in the leaves of the fig-tree, and with a skin garment;I am condemned to eat a bread for which I must toil with the sweat of my browand the earth is cursed, so that it may yield me thorns and thistles:But do Thou, that in after-times tookest flesh from the Virgin,recall and restore me to paradise.

O paradise! Most worthy of all our reverence,beautiful beyond measure, tabernacle built by God,joy and delight without end, glory of the prophets, and dwelling of the saints;may thy prayers, the sound of thy leaves,obtain for me from the Creator of all things,that thy gates, which my sin hath shut against me,may be thrown open to me,and that I may be made worthy to partake of the tree of life,and of that joy which I once so sweetly tasted in thy bosom.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

In the February issue of the SSPX newsletter Fr Morgan wrote an article on page 26 entitled ‘News from Orkney’ where, speaking of what I wrote in the Catholic (Jan. Feb. March 2009), he says:“The same editorial denies ‘that the SSPX and its supporters are outside the Church,’ and instead maintains that faithful may attend our Masses in good conscience but ‘without adhering to any schismatic mentality.’ However, in a signed Christmas letter (22/12/08) to the faithful on Stronsay, who, with Fr Nicholas remain committed to the cause of Catholic Tradition and the position of the Society of Saint Pius X, Fr Michael Mary declared that:-these latter were ‘refusing union with the Roman Pontiff,’ in a state of ‘practical schism,’ and consequently deserving of excommunication’-that Fr Nicholas’ suspension was valid and binding; and that his regular Confessions were invalid.-that SSPX sacraments of Confession and Matrimony are invalid.”

To which I reply,Firstly we want to have good relations if at all possible. It does not help for us to be accused of things that we do not hold; quite simply. Now to take my clarification (which was a reply to an earlier accusation from Fr Morgan) and turn it on me again is simply unhelpful. If traditional priests cannot reach clarity of thought how can it work in the wider Church?This is what I said in the Editorial and which I maintain as a true expression of my thoughts:2. Fr Morgan also reports that I openly claim “that the SSPX and its supporters are outside the Catholic Church and in danger of losing their souls.” This is false.a. I believe that the SSPX as a group of priests are outside the structures of the Church. This is clear. SSPX priests are not submitted to the Holy See, nor to Local Ordinaries or Ordinaries. Objectively this is dangerous to salvation. Subjectively it is another matter.b. I do not hold any opinion about SSPX supporters (as a group or as individuals) being inside or outside the Church. I have no set opinion about their salvation.c. I hold that a person may attend Mass in a SSPX chapel in good conscience if he does it without adhering to any schismatic mentality.

In private letters of 22 December, 2008, given to certain Catholics living on Stronsay, I wrote:

“Dear .......It would be of no use to have the Mass without the teachings of the traditional Catholic faith. Remember that one of those teachings is that all Catholics are bound to have true submission to the Roman Pontiff.Now this is clearly not your case. Our community maintains the traditional Mass and also the full Magisterium of the Church. I and Father Anthony have been given faculties for the administration of the Sacrament of Penance and the public celebration of the Mass both in Papa Stronsay and in our chapel on Stronsay. Therefore, the only reason for the split between you and us is union with the Roman Pontiff.You have not split because of the traditional Mass. We offer only the traditional Mass.You have not split because of the traditional teaching of the Church since we preach those truths here, in the Catholic Chapel, on Stronsay.Be very clear of this, you have split only because you refuse union with the Pope. There can be no other reason.... Your split is not a formal schism; but it is practical schism; it has torn apart the Catholics in Stronsay. Your group refuses Communion with us; the priests authorised by the Church as well as from the Catholic faithful who receive the sacraments from us. Only the word ‘schism’ accurately describes the external reality and sinfulness of the division that you support...There is no excuse that could make your division less than schism, because the traditional Mass is offered here every day, so is valid confession and there is no danger to the faith...There could still be a case for the argument of ‘necessity’ that justifies members of the faithful attending the Mass of a suspended priest. Such a case of necessity is not here on Stronsay ...In April and May 1996 Bishop Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, excommunicated Catholics who attended the SSPX chapel in his diocese because there was no ‘case of necessity’ since the traditional Mass was freely available to the faithful through his priests and the FSSP. Rome upheld the excommunication. Therefore the SSPX left the diocese because they knew that since there was no ‘necessity’ the excommunication was justified and their ministry was sinful. Be clear that the same lack of necessity applies in Stronsay and the continuation of this division under the same circumstances is gravely sinful and similarly worthy of excommunication because of the unjustifiable damage you are doing to the unity of the Church here.Dear ......... please return to Mass and the sacraments at Our Lady’s chapel. Surely you will not wound Our Lord by supporting a practical schism that so needlessly deeply divides our Catholic community.

These two statements are compatible since the first is an expression of a general opinion and the second is an assessment of a particular situation which I think is precisely as I state in (c.) above ‘adhering to a schismatic mentality.’

There is a vast difference between our situation in Stronsay and the situation of most SSPX chapels. Stronsay is a small island with less than 20 adults attending Mass on Sunday.

In the Catholic chapel daily Mass is available according to the 1962 Missal exclusively, and Confessions are readily available there by priests who have received faculties from the Local Ordinary. This being the case, there is no legitimate reason for setting up an opposing altar 200 meters away at the island Post Office. This is unjustifiable and makes a mockery of any application of the State of Necessity principle invoked by the SSPX.

This situation is not similar, for example, to the Taunton Mass centre or the Herne chapel where scattered people from near and far attend the SSPX Mass on Sunday because they have no traditional Mass available anywhere else.

The people who have left the Catholic chapel on Stronsay have not done so because they have had ‘liturgical abuses’ imposed upon them, nor because of sermons of any type at all, since they made their departure last November without waiting for the Holy Mass to be offered even once.

As to the statement about the invalidity of SSPX marriages and confessions: it is a judgment of the Holy See; our reference is the Mershon article which can be easily found on the internet.

We hope for a reconciliation between the Society and the Holy See as soon as possible for the good of us all. I take this opportunity to say that I do not want to be involved in an ongoing debate with members of the Society. We have been good friends. We want what has been good in that friendship to continue; - Father, let’s really work at something more constructive.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

"... The positions of Mons. Williamson on the Shoah are absolutely unacceptable and firmly rejected by the Holy Father, as he himself remarked on the past January 28, when, referring to that brutal genocide, reaffirmed his full and unquestionable solidarity with our Brethren receivers of the First Covenant, and affirmed that the memory of that terrible genocide must lead "mankind to reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the heart of man", adding that the Shoah remains "for all a warning against forgetfulness, against denial or reductionism, because the violence against a single human being is violence against all". Bishop Williamson, for an admission to episcopal functions in the Church, will also have to declare, in an absolutely unequivocal and public manner, distance from his positions regarding the Shoah, unknown to the Holy Father in the moment of the remission of the excommunication. ..."

+ + + + +

These following words of Pope Benedict XVI spoken on several occasion, clearly demonstrate that he has no need to give any explainations of what he thinks about:

the Holocaust

the Gas Chambers and Ovens

the more than six million victims

Pope Benedict XVI speak for us all.

+ + + + +Pope Benedict XVICologne, GermanyFriday 19 August, 2005

Pope Benedict XVI in Auschwitz

“...And in the 20th century, in the darkest period of German and European history, an insane racist ideology, born of neo-paganism, gave rise to the attempt,planned and systematically carried out by the regime, to exterminate European Jewry. The result has passed into history as the Shoah.The victims of this unspeakable and previously unimaginable crime amounted to 11,000 named individuals in Cologne alone; the real figure was surely much higher. The holiness of God was no longer recognized, and consequently, contempt was shown for the sacredness of human life.This year, 2005, marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, in which millions of Jews - men, women and children - were put to death in the gas chambers and ovens. ..."

Pope Benedict XVIConcentration Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau28 May 2006

Pope Benedict XVIRome31 May 2006

Pope Benedict XVI is unequivocal

"... All Christians must feel committed to bearing this witness in order to prevent humanity of the third millennium from once again experiencing horrors similar to those tragically called to mind by the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was precisely in that place, sadly famous throughout the world, that I chose to stop before returning to Rome.Hitler had more than 6 million Jews exterminated in the camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau and in other similar camps. About 150,000 Poles and tens of thousands of men and women of other nationalities died at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the face of the horror of Auschwitz there is no other response than the Cross of Christ: Love descended to the very depths of the abyss of evil to save man in his core, where human freedom can rebel against God.May contemporary humanity never forget Auschwitz or the other "death factories" where the Nazi regime attempted to eliminate God in order to replace him! May it not succumb to the temptation of racial hatred which is at the root of the worst forms of anti-Semitism! May people recognize once again that God is the Father of all and calls us all, in Christ, to build a world of justice, truth and peace together! ..."

Monday, February 02, 2009

"We evidently condemn every act of murder of the innocent. It is a crime that cries to heaven! Even more so when it is related to a people. We reject every accusation of Antisemitism. Completely and absolutely. We reject every form of approval of what happened under Hitler. This is something abominable. Christianity places Charity at a supreme level. Saint Paul, speaking of the Jews, proclaims, 'I wished myself to be an anathema [from Christ], for my brethren!" (Rom. 9, 3). The Jews are "our elder brothers" in the sense that we have something in common, that is, the old Covenant. It is true that the acknowledgment of the coming of the Messiah separates us.

"It is very interesting to notice that the Church did not await for the Council to prescribe courses of action regarding the Jews. Since the 30s, even during the war, several texts of Rome provide a very just position: the abominations of the Hitlerist regime must be condemned! 'Spiritually, we all Semites', Pope Pius XI had said. It is a truth which comes from Sacred Scripture itself, 'we are sons of Abraham,' Saint Paul also affirms." - Bishop Fellay, La CroixRorate Caeli